SDA Bocconi School of Management (SDA standing for "Scuola di Direzione Aziendale" = School of Management) is the graduate business school of Bocconi University and is considered one of the most prestigious business schools in the world.[1]
SDA Bocconi offers executive, custom and MBA programs, as well as specialised masters, and regularly takes on research projects on commission.

In 1998, SDA Bocconi was the first school in Italy to be accredited by EQUIS[2] and it's now one of only 71 business schools worldwide to hold the "triple crown",[3] having been accredited by three international accreditation associations: AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA (Association of MBAs).[4] The School has also been accredited by CSQNet and holds the ISO 9001:2000 quality rating from the Funded Projects Services Center.[5]

In 2015, Bocconi was ranked 7th in the world for business and management studies by QS World University Rankings.[13] In the same year, the Financial Times also ranked SDA Bocconi's MBA program 26th in world [14] while Forbes ranked SDA Bocconi as having the 4th best one-year international MBA programs in the world.[15]

In 2013, Times Higher Education placed Bocconi 24th in the world for producing the highest number of millionaires.

SDA Bocconi was placed 8th in the European Business School Ranking[16] and 25th amongst the international Business Schools featured in the 2012 Executive Education Rankings published by the Financial Times.[17] SDA Bocconi is also the only Italian School amongst the top 100 in the FT Global MBA Rankings, and the first and only Italian institution for the Full-Time MBA.[18] SDA Bocconi also features in the rankings of the Wall Street Journal, Forbes[19] and Businessweek.[20]

In 2011, SDA Bocconi's MBA program was ranked 1st in the world in terms of return-on-investment.[21][22]

A 12-month full-time program in general management, taught entirely in English. The course is designed for professionals with a few years’ industry experience and is open to students from all over the world.

The Program starts with a one-week MBA boot camp, during which the students are asked to understand and live the essence of your forthcoming year.

SDA Bocconi MBA structure is organized around three cornerstones: Planning and Innovation, Leading people and Processes, Controlling and Investment. These core courses represent the competence requirements of a global manager. Students spend the first eight months of the program taking foundation courses and developing management skills followed by a two-month real-world, hands-on experience (individual internship or group consulting project), plus final Concentrations.

In addition to 4 functional-based Concentrations, such as Finance, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Marketing, the Program offers participants the possibility to further personalize their development by choosing the sector-based Track in Luxury Business Management (LBM) in partnership with LVMH, the renowned leader in the worldwide luxury business. The last part of the MBA will take place in the Arrivederci Week: Arts and Business, Telco and New media, Government-related finance, Pharma and Health, and first-hand “Made in Italy” business models). As a major international school of management, SDA Bocconi is engaged in an active and prestigious network of exchanges, collaborations and interactions with peer institutions.[23]

A 20-month international executive program in general management that combines distance learning modules and class-based lessons. Taught entirely in English, the Global Executive MBA includes 3 months at partner business schools abroad (UCLA Anderson School of Management,[24] Fudan University,[25] Copenhagen Business School[26]) and offers the possibility to follow elective courses while abroad through partner organizations.

A 21-month executive program in general management taught entirely in Italian. The course combines distance learning modules with class-based lessons, allowing participants to study while working full-time.

A 20-month executive program in general management taught entirely in Italian. Classes are held at the School's campus in Milan and take place in the evening and at weekends to enable participants to study while continuing to work full-time.

All full-time international master programs last one year and are taught in English. In addition class-based lessons, they include seminars, group projects and field-based projects. The international Master programs cover the following:

Corporate Finance

Fashion, Experience & Design Management

Food & Beverage Management

Arts Management and Administration

Health Care Management, Economics and Policy

Public Management

Masters in International Arts Management, delivered jointly with HEC Montreal and the Southern Methodist University, with 1/3 of the year in Montreal, 1/3 in Dallas and 1/3 in Milan

Open programs are aimed at managers with different degrees of experience and responsibility working in one of the following fields: large corporations, banks, insurance and financial intermediaries, fashion and design, healthcare, non-profit organizations, small and medium-size businesses, public administration, real estate, sport and tourism.
As well as being sector-specific, the programs are designed based on different job functions: administration and control, corporate finance, marketing, sales, communication and distribution, organization, human resources, risk management, information systems, strategy and entrepreneurship, technology and operations. There are also more generic programs covering areas such as general management, project management, quantitative methods and leadership.
Class-based lessons are combined with individual assessments, study tours, distance learning, role playing, experiential learning, web-based simulations, field visits, company visits, tutoring and coaching.

In addition to the 200 Executive Open Programs aimed at Italian professionals, the school has designed a number of International Executive Open Programs on subjects such as finance, retail management, marketing and communication. Some of these have been developed in collaboration with institutions, sponsors and international trade associations.

To address the specific needs of companies and organizations, the school has developed what they call the Modello di Corporate Empowerment (i.e. Corporate Empowerment Model), designed especially to create custom programs that are able to strengthen and value organizations. These programs are run by three divisions, each dedicated to one of the School’s main target sectors. The divisions are: DIM (Divisione Imprese), for businesses, DIBA (Divisione Banche, Assicurazioni e Intermediari Finanziari), for banks, insurance companies and financial intermediaries, and DAP (Divisione Amministrazioni Pubbliche, Sanità e non profit), for public administration, healthcare and non-profit organizations.

The Research Division, founded 22 years ago by Prof. Claudio Demattè, uses the outcomes of the latest studies to address the needs of managers working in companies and in financial and public institutions. Research projects can take one of the following shapes:

Alumni from SDA Bocconi and the other Bocconi schools are all members of the Bocconi Alumni Association.[27] As of September 2015, the Alumni Association is composed of over 95,000 active alumni, 12,000 of which are from SDA Bocconi.[28] The Bocconi alumni network is active in over 110 countries in the world.[29]